PBiR or Wicked Light IR?
- Thread starter DaveFerriman
- Start date
Yes, all IR LEDs capable of a decent power output are like that.
Try defocussing the beam slightly - it will get rid of the bands and make no significant difference to how well it illuminates the target.
You could also change to a vsel based illuminator such as:
Sirius XTL from IRlightbuilds
Solaris SRX from Blackwood Outdoors
Blacksun dark engine from the Nightvision store
Light Sabre Wraith from ludicrous Lumens
All of these are much more powerful than any LED illuminator and don't suffer from banding
Cheers
Bruce
Try defocussing the beam slightly - it will get rid of the bands and make no significant difference to how well it illuminates the target.
You could also change to a vsel based illuminator such as:
Sirius XTL from IRlightbuilds
Solaris SRX from Blackwood Outdoors
Blacksun dark engine from the Nightvision store
Light Sabre Wraith from ludicrous Lumens
All of these are much more powerful than any LED illuminator and don't suffer from banding
Cheers
Bruce
I like the wicked lights, seldom use the higher power IR led, too much white out. Use it with my Pulsar Forward F144, its handy to see the difference between say a rabbit & hare at 200 meters, so I take off the Pulsar & flip to red led on the light, zoom the magnification up on my scope. The red led is superior to Nighmaster & Deben Tracer by a long way, & the dimmer is good, not cutting out at low volume. Banding is a slight annoyance but just defocusing the light takes it away.
you've got me a little confused here Bruce, i thought the Sirius was an Ian Sirrell product, and the Pbir-L a Paul Baker unit?
By the way, i have both the Solaris and the non diffused Sirius, and the latter is superior on my pard008, doubled photon XT, and Wraith.
The Sirius XTL is an Ian Sirrel product, but my understanding is that he does/did make all or part of the PBIR-L for Paul Baker.
Cheers
Bruce
Cheers
Bruce
I have been using the Wickedlight with the N450 Ultra got some footage on Youtube I dont sell torches , yes there is a difference between LED and Laser but likewise some Lasers are too powerful for NV units.
Look at the distance you may be shooting , technically seeing over 400yrds is pointless for most shooters.
What I like about the Wickedlight 3 in one is that it gives me 2 IR options as well as a powerful redlight and over the last few months I have used both with great effect as well as the dimmer.
The red light option is good for spotting or keeping an eye on direction and the two different IR's help with both long and short range shooting.
Be aware with the Wickedlights being from the States a number of UK torch companies will have plenty to say against them but in the end a torch is a torch, PBIR's aree too powerful some NV units and in some scenarios, either way maybe it is worthwhile having a look at both and see what suits you .
I know I directed you to have a look at my footage on Youtube but do not always go on what you see on Youtube , what you see on the recording is not always the quality you see through the scope.
I have no bias either way, I did not review the Wickedlight on test or anything I actually got it as part of a deal when buying the Pulsar N450 Ultra but I actually cannot fault it. I have tested many torches such as the PBIR and Nightmasters and yes the Wickedlights are LED but they have one plus side , they are not just an IR, what I mean by that is, the other night it was 1am, I was laying up on a bit of ground shooting bunnies, I was on foot and although I had left my head torch in the truck, After shooting a couple of bunnies I went to retrieve them, with no hassle I clipped off the Wickedlight twisted a knob on the side of the torch now I had a torch albeit it was a red beam it was still a torch that helped me find the bunnies in long grass, ANY stand alone IR cannot do that which means when walking about you have to carry more equipment. Now another night I was out I was shooting bunnies with the .22lr which had the Pulsar N450 on it, there was a fox across the river 2 to 300 yrds away, I was able to quickly take the Wickedlight off the Pulsar and .22lr straight onto the .243 with day scope which I have a scope mounted rail on and was able to switch from IR to red light untilising 2 different rifles. NO standalone IR can do that without having to remove pills etc.
For these reasons I will be sticking to the Wickedlight for now.
Look at the distance you may be shooting , technically seeing over 400yrds is pointless for most shooters.
What I like about the Wickedlight 3 in one is that it gives me 2 IR options as well as a powerful redlight and over the last few months I have used both with great effect as well as the dimmer.
The red light option is good for spotting or keeping an eye on direction and the two different IR's help with both long and short range shooting.
Be aware with the Wickedlights being from the States a number of UK torch companies will have plenty to say against them but in the end a torch is a torch, PBIR's aree too powerful some NV units and in some scenarios, either way maybe it is worthwhile having a look at both and see what suits you .
I know I directed you to have a look at my footage on Youtube but do not always go on what you see on Youtube , what you see on the recording is not always the quality you see through the scope.
I have no bias either way, I did not review the Wickedlight on test or anything I actually got it as part of a deal when buying the Pulsar N450 Ultra but I actually cannot fault it. I have tested many torches such as the PBIR and Nightmasters and yes the Wickedlights are LED but they have one plus side , they are not just an IR, what I mean by that is, the other night it was 1am, I was laying up on a bit of ground shooting bunnies, I was on foot and although I had left my head torch in the truck, After shooting a couple of bunnies I went to retrieve them, with no hassle I clipped off the Wickedlight twisted a knob on the side of the torch now I had a torch albeit it was a red beam it was still a torch that helped me find the bunnies in long grass, ANY stand alone IR cannot do that which means when walking about you have to carry more equipment. Now another night I was out I was shooting bunnies with the .22lr which had the Pulsar N450 on it, there was a fox across the river 2 to 300 yrds away, I was able to quickly take the Wickedlight off the Pulsar and .22lr straight onto the .243 with day scope which I have a scope mounted rail on and was able to switch from IR to red light untilising 2 different rifles. NO standalone IR can do that without having to remove pills etc.
For these reasons I will be sticking to the Wickedlight for now.
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Agree with all of this, When we go out, my mate uses a .22lr with a Pulsar Forward with the built in illuminator, if we see a fox with the Thermal, its a 10 second job to put it on my fox rifle which has the wicked light permanently mounted on the scope. Hopefully when we finished clearing up these lamp shy critters, I can go back to using the red beam, I feel more confident with at longer ranges, & that red led has an unbelievable range.
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Hmmm.
I have a Pard 007 and a Pard 008P. I also have a Solaris and a Sirius - I find the Solaris to be ultra powerful but the beam is very tight so at even sensible ranges I have to go down to the medium power setting to avoid white-out. The Sirius however has a much wider beam capability so all I have done is put two luminous tape marks on it which when aligned fill the sight picture and give the best image through either scope. Because of the greater flexibility I now always reach for the Sirius and have shot clearly identified foxes out to 300+ with it but if I wanted really, really long distance I would take the Solaris - in NI the fields are small so 100-150 yds is the norm - you can guess which one I invariably choose….
I have a Pard 007 and a Pard 008P. I also have a Solaris and a Sirius - I find the Solaris to be ultra powerful but the beam is very tight so at even sensible ranges I have to go down to the medium power setting to avoid white-out. The Sirius however has a much wider beam capability so all I have done is put two luminous tape marks on it which when aligned fill the sight picture and give the best image through either scope. Because of the greater flexibility I now always reach for the Sirius and have shot clearly identified foxes out to 300+ with it but if I wanted really, really long distance I would take the Solaris - in NI the fields are small so 100-150 yds is the norm - you can guess which one I invariably choose….
Hi All,
If you want a large lenses heavy VCSEL IR, then we do still make the Dark Engine MAX:
This is being phased out though, and both Dark Engine and Dark Engine MAX are being replaced with the new Dark Engine BLADE:
It has more overall output power than even the Dark Engine MAX, but is tiny in comparison. It also has far more adjustment of the beam angle. It will go from wide flood for dedicated NV, to tight spot for add ons. The precision lens has no wobble or slack of any kind. The power is also infinitely adjustable so no issues with overpowering your NV device at closer ranges.
It's completely designed and built here in the UK and has a lifetime warranty. It uses our standard Black Sun pill and tail switch interface so any future developments in diodes, etc. are easily accommodated.
With an NV007V I can go from close up <50 yards to illuminating tree lines at 900+ at 10X magnification without any adjustment and barely notice it on the rifle. It is the future of IR illuminators, and not expensive compared to it's bulky contemporaries.
Cheers
Clive
If you want a large lenses heavy VCSEL IR, then we do still make the Dark Engine MAX:
Black Sun Dark Engine MAX IR illuminator
www.nightvisionstore.co.uk
This is being phased out though, and both Dark Engine and Dark Engine MAX are being replaced with the new Dark Engine BLADE:
Black Sun Dark Engine BLADE IR illuminator
www.nightvisionstore.co.uk
It has more overall output power than even the Dark Engine MAX, but is tiny in comparison. It also has far more adjustment of the beam angle. It will go from wide flood for dedicated NV, to tight spot for add ons. The precision lens has no wobble or slack of any kind. The power is also infinitely adjustable so no issues with overpowering your NV device at closer ranges.
It's completely designed and built here in the UK and has a lifetime warranty. It uses our standard Black Sun pill and tail switch interface so any future developments in diodes, etc. are easily accommodated.
With an NV007V I can go from close up <50 yards to illuminating tree lines at 900+ at 10X magnification without any adjustment and barely notice it on the rifle. It is the future of IR illuminators, and not expensive compared to it's bulky contemporaries.
Cheers
Clive
All depends on your needs.
A simple LED with AS pill is all I use for C50 and Alpex models and it gives a very wide field fo view and ultra clean beam, in fact I also tested it on an NV008S and it worked much better and provided better clarity than the VCSEL models with this unit.
www.blackwoodoutdoors.co.uk
If you want more range for the likes of a rear add on, with adjustable power also, these are suitable and reasonably priced.
www.blackwoodoutdoors.co.uk
A simple LED with AS pill is all I use for C50 and Alpex models and it gives a very wide field fo view and ultra clean beam, in fact I also tested it on an NV008S and it worked much better and provided better clarity than the VCSEL models with this unit.
Night Blaster LED IR Torch
The Nightblaster LED IR torch provides clean imaging and works excellent for HikMicro Alpex, Pulsar C50 and other night vision scope models.
www.blackwoodoutdoors.co.uk
If you want more range for the likes of a rear add on, with adjustable power also, these are suitable and reasonably priced.
Blackwood Outdoors - Thermal, Night Vision and Fieldsport Equipment Suppliers.
Blackwood Outdoors is a leading supplier of thermal imaging, including night vision optics and related fieldsport equipment.
www.blackwoodoutdoors.co.uk
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